


First Day on the Job

by SelarahMorgan



Series: You're a Wizard Ianto! [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Torchwood
Genre: Humor, Not Canon Compliant, Reunions, Witch Tosh, Wizard Ianto, first day of work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 14:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30107049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelarahMorgan/pseuds/SelarahMorgan
Summary: It's Ianto's first day at Torchwood 3 and being back in Cardiff brings a lot of introspection, a flirtatious new boss, a joyful reunion and one GIANT mess. Oh and a bit of coffee magic!
Relationships: Ianto Jones & Toshiko Sato, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones (pre-relationship)
Series: You're a Wizard Ianto! [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2175258
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	First Day on the Job

**Author's Note:**

> As promised, Ianto's first day in Cardiff. A little longer than the last one-shot so I hope that makes up for the fact that it took longer to write than I was expecting. Hoping to get about 1 or 2 of these out each month and my main project will hopefully start posting during April!  
> Many thanks to my lovely sister for beta-reading! :)

Nowhere felt more like home to Ianto than Cardiff did. Not even Hogwarts could compare and an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia washed over him as he walked the (not inconsiderable) distance from his Da’s house on the other side of the River Taff and into Cardiff city centre and towards the bay. It was overcast and windy and on any other day, Ianto would have driven or simply apparated to a nearby spot but this was the first day he’d been back in Cardiff in nearly 5 years and he’d missed it.

Hogwarts had been a home away from home for most of the years he had spent there – psychopathic death eater ‘teachers’ notwithstanding – and he’d come to enjoy living in London as much as he could while working with Torchwood 1. He’d made friends there that he’d miss but there was nothing like coming back to Wales. The land of his birth, where the few memories he had of his mother were imprinted in playpark swings and the cracks of street pavements he’d jumped over as a child.

He’d been able to keep in touch with his Da, brother and sister while he was in London, but he hadn’t physically seen them since he’d agreed to fake his death and join Torchwood. Both he and his Da had cried and hugged for longer than Ianto was usually comfortable with. They’d both been a little embarrassed afterwards, but it hadn’t mattered as they fell into old patterns as Ifan had settled his youngest child back into the family home for the time being.

Chuckling to himself, Ianto realised that he’d been lost in memories during his walk and he’d arrived at the Roald Dahl Plass where he’d been instructed to head for the tourist information office that was tucked away down on the boardwalk. He’d have to worry about the reunions with his siblings later when he wasn’t about to meet his new boss. Ianto was reserving judgement on the man till he’d actually met him. He’d heard a lot about Captain Harkness and managed to ferret out a few more things from the limited amount of information there was in the London archives. It might have been possible to find out more for sure if he’d more than 3 days to pack up his life and head for Cardiff. He hadn’t even heard back from Auror Stanley yet and he hoped any owls would have the good sense to wait at home rather than attempt to enter the Torchwood 3 hub.

Making his way across the Plass, Ianto reviewed what he knew of the Torchwood team.

1\. The team consisted of Captain Jack Harkness (leader), Suzie Costello (weapons expert and second in command), Doctor Owen Harper (team medic) and Toshiko Sato (technological genius and old friend of Ianto Jones)  
2\. The average age of T3 agents was significantly lower than the already low figures for T1  
3\. This may or may not be shifted significantly if anyone knew the age of the captain  
4\. The captain was rumoured to be either particularly long-lived or in some way invulnerable (some even suggested immortal – Ianto needed more data)  
5\. He was also said to be an incurable flirt  
6\. Despite excessive curiosity about Jack Harkness, Ianto was most looking forward to seeing and surprising the lovely Toshiko

Not much to go off, but there had been no time to do more research, though Ianto wasn’t too unhappy about this. The thrill of working out the puzzle of his new colleagues would be more satisfying once he’s met them in person. Plus, it’d be much easier to access their files from the T3 servers than it would have been in London.

The door to the tourist information office looked grimy and uninviting. Ianto swore he could see cobwebs in the corners of the little window and a small sign was hung up proclaiming the office to be ‘under renovation’. He quickly hid his frown behind a professional mask as a tall man wearing a navy-blue RAF greatcoat that looked straight out of the 1940s stepped out from behind the door, closing it behind him.

Captain Harkness – Ianto assumed – gave him an assessing look, sweeping his gaze from his head to his toes and back. Ianto returned the favour and studied the face of the man before him. A leering grin had been plastered over what Ianto observed to be a calculating expression. He was hiding it and hiding it well, but Ianto was too practiced in masking his own feelings to not see that Harkness was conflicted about his arrival.

“Hello, I’m Captain Jack Harkness. You must be my new archivist.”

The introduction was laden with innuendo and Ianto had to think quickly to decide how to play this. He wanted to get on well with his new colleagues and from what he’d heard, the captain often flirted with and without any intention of taking things further. Without knowing more about his new boss, it would probably be better to keep a little distance.

Deciding on a professional demeanour for now, Ianto said with a polite smile, “Jones. Ianto Jones. I was told that my files would be transferred after my arrival.” He reached his hand out and it was gripped in a firm handshake. Captain Harkness’s grin grew as Ianto spoke and he became very suddenly aware of the man in front of him. He smelled intoxicating and Ianto had to drop the handshake before Harkness seemed ready to.

“Oooo, those lovely welsh vowels! What were you doing all the way in London Mr Jones, glad to be home?”

“You’ve no idea sir.” Ianto deadpanned back at him with a tiny smirk.

Harkness turned to lead Ianto into the tourist office and held the door open for him. It was dark inside with a thick layer of dust covered every surface. Ianto’s smirk was transformed into a small frown when he spotted the leaflets on one wall that were 3 years out of date. This was not an effective cover for a secret organisation. Sure, Canary Warf stuck out like a sore thumb, but it was just any other fancy office building to passers-by. Ianto wondered if there existed a voicemail full of messages from the Welsh Tourist Board and why they hadn’t sent someone to open the place up properly.

Grinning like a loon, the captain reached behind the desk and after a moment, a section of the wall swung away to reveal a hidden passage. Raising an eyebrow, Ianto followed behind him as he led the way down a long corridor into a lift. Both men were quietly assessing each other as they walked and neither seemed willing to break the silence as they descended underground. Harkness was the first to speak, asking Ianto what his qualifications were.

“Well sir, I’ve been working for Torchwood for 4 years now. My official position was Junior Researcher, but I’ve been working with the archives as well as cataloguing incoming artefacts for the last 3 years. Honestly, if it wasn’t for Mathews, there’s probably a few of us that would have been assigned research specialties by now.”

Captain Harkness looked intrigued by this and gave Ianto a little half smile for his plight with his former boss. “I think I remember Mathews from some conference calls with Yvonne. Greasy little man, always picking at his fingernails and a total Hartman sycophant?” At Ianto’s nod, the older man continued, “Yeah, I wasn’t exactly a fan. What would your specialty have been?” He asked.

Ianto considered this for a moment. “Archival translation most likely. I have a knack for languages and written text though I’m perfectly proficient in a number of other areas.”

Suggestively looking him over once more, Harkness grinned, “I look forward to discovering more of these proficiencies then, Mr Jones.”

“I’m sure you’ll find me quite capable sir.” Ianto replied without thinking. The flirtatious remark had slipped out without his permission, but he found that he didn’t mind overly much. Harkness’s smile was blinding at the subtle reciprocation and Ianto found the man very attractive. It couldn’t hurt to respond to when it seemed a natural form of communication for him.

The lift was settling at the bottom of the lift shaft as the Captain made his first explicit innuendo by blatantly staring at Ianto’s arse and saying, “Love the suit by the way.”

Keeping his cool, Ianto didn’t even smirk as he gently scolded his new employer, “Careful sir. Some people might call that harassment.”

Harkness’s laugh boomed out as the lift doors opened to a loud siren’s wail. The sound of the other man’s obvious enjoyment of their repartee made Ianto smile in spite of himself. That was, until he saw the state of the Torchwood 3 hub.

There was a pile of black bin bags next to the cage that surrounded the cogwheel door that Ianto had to step around as they moved into the cavernous room. Pizza boxes were stacked haphazardly on a table off to one side and there were other takeaway containers on nearly every surface visible. Used mugs were also scattered around the room and while Ianto had been able to mostly hide his disapproval upstairs, it was impossible to do so here.

“Welcome to the Cardiff hub Ianto Jones. The rest of the team are out on a retrieval at the moment, but they should be back soon enough…” Harkness trailed off as he turned around and observed the deep frown that was etched across Ianto’s face. Puzzled he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing sir. Just wondering if there’s a coffee machine somewhere around here?” Ianto asked, trying desperately to hide his growing horror at the many artefacts he could see strewn across desks and tables without a care for proper storage.

Captain Harkness shrugged before gesturing Ianto to follow him through the maze of clutter towards a metal staircase that led to platform running around the damp walls of the huge space. Smiling, he brought Ianto to a small table in a corner. A fairly old machine was sitting on top of it, a layer of dust coating the shiny metal and Ianto sighed at the obvious sign of neglect.

“Here we are. No one’s been able to make this thing work in years. We usually just get takeaway but you’re more than welcome to give it a go if you think you can get it to cooperate.”

It would take a little while to clean the machine out first, but Ianto knew that if he was going to survive working in a place like this when he hadn’t even seen the state of the archives yet, he was going to need some damn good coffee. “Don’t you worry captain. I’ll have this old girl singing in no time.”

. . . . . 

Ianto smugly sipped at his own coffee as Harkness stared rapturously into his mug in stunned silence. Personally, he didn’t think it was that good, but the boss seemed to think so and perhaps it really was that much better than the jar of instant he’d found by the kettle. The completely indecent moan that the other man let escape on his next mouthful was definitely over the top though.

“Damn Ianto, this stuff is amazing! How the hell did you get that thing to work?”

“Thank you. Unfortunately, that would be a trade secret sir.”

The captain drained his mug before looking at Ianto with sparkling eyes. “You don’t suppose I could have another cup?”

Ianto contemplated this for a moment before deciding ultimately that he could not pass up this opportunity for the hard graft of getting the hub into a habitable state to be done without much effort on his part. “That depends, sir.” He said, keeping the professionally polite smile in place. “I don’t work for free and barista isn’t in my job description. I could be persuaded however, to make more if I was compensated accordingly.”

“What can I do for you Mr Jones?” It was glaringly obvious from the man’s tone of voice what he expected Ianto to ask him for. He was about to be extremely disappointed.

Moving closer to him, Ianto let the words drag a little, “Well… To be blunt sir…” He smiled disarmingly at the captain who audibly sucked in a breath, only to let it out in a rush as he deflated with Ianto’s next statement. “This place is a mess sir. How anyone can work productively is a mystery to me. I’d be happy to take on some general maintenance duties, but I will NOT clean up what’s already here. If you want more coffee, you’re going to have to show me some clean desk space but don’t touch the coffee maker. I’ll make sure it’s in perfect working order for your next cup.”

A moment of stunned silence followed Ianto’s pronouncement, but he stood his ground in the face of the captain’s bemusement. He had to show the man that he wasn’t here to be pushed around or to be messed with in any way. He could have a laugh with his co-workers but Ianto wasn’t about to let himself be taken advantage of.

It wasn’t a complete surprise to Ianto when Harkness near doubled over with deep booming laughs that Ianto grinning along as well. It felt good to have a boss that appreciated a sense of humour in his employees. One thing was certain: this would be a very different working environment to London. The other man recovered enough to give Ianto a beaming grin that split his face and showed off his blindingly white teeth. “I think you’ll fit in perfectly here Ianto. I’ll make sure everyone does their fair share of tidying up this place, if only to get more of that delicious coffee. Come on, the others will be here soon and I should introduce you.”

Ianto and the captain trooped back down the stairs to the main area as the (potentially significantly) older man typed something into his phone. He was quite sure it was a summons for the other members of the Torchwood 3 team and wondered if any of them really knew who this man was. He was certainly an enigma to Ianto and he’d had access to the archives in London before arriving here. He was sure that Harkness was older than he appeared and figuring out the riddle of a man who was turning to look at him would one of his new favourite pass times.

The door alarm made its shrill call again as the cog wheel rolled away and the gate swung open. Ianto smiled politely at the frizzy haired woman he recognised as Suzie Costello and the small man in the leather jacket who must be Owen Harper. Reading the personnel files before coming here had definitely been the right call. It didn’t matter too much what those two thought of him right now. He was too excited to see his old friend who was currently frozen in motion, half in and half out of the doorway.

Ianto’s smile broadened into a grin as Harkness began the introductions, “Everyone this is-”

“IANTO!” Ianto wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d heard Toshiko’s shout up on the Plass. No longer stuck in one place, Tosh was rapidly closing the distance between them. Ianto had little time to throw his arms wide before he was catching the speeding mass of his little friend while she clung to him and babbled through her tears.

“I thought you were dead! They told everyone that you were dead Ianto! What happened to you?” Breaking off into Japanese, Ianto soothed Tosh and gently stroked her hair back as she tried to rationalise his sudden appearance in her place of work. The baffled and bemused expressions of his other new work mates only made Ianto chuckle softly over her shoulder. He quietly told her, keeping it in Japanese, that he’d explain everything later if she’d have a little patience.

Harkness was the first to interrupt their reunion as Tosh pulled away from Ianto to look at him in wonder. “You just keep getting more and more interesting, don’t you, Mr Jones. This is Suzie Costello my second and Owen Harper our team medic. You already seem acquainted with our resident tech genius.” He indicated the other as he spoke and Ianto nodded to each in greeting.

“You could say that sir.” To stall the questioning – and somewhat suspicious on Suzie’s part – looks, Ianto hurried to give his standard explanation. “Tosh and I went to the same boarding school. She was my mentor and like a sister to me for the 2 years we were both there. Tosh here graduated at the end of my second year. We haven’t spoken since before I joined Torchwood London.”

Before anyone could ask any questions, Tosh was asking for coffee so Ianto offered to make some for the rest of the team. “But not you sir. You’ve already had your free cup and know what you need to do to get another.” Ianto threw this over his shoulder with a cheeky smile as he headed back up to what he’d now claimed in his head as his coffee machine.

Tosh was quick to grasp the mug that Ianto handed her while Costello and Harper were quick converts to what Harkness was denied as he dramatically proclaimed it the nectar of the gods. Ianto only smiled and asked to be shown to the archives.

Ianto was led over to an opening in the wall opposite the main entrance, another set of metal stairs led down into a dimly lit corridor and he could vaguely make out the outline of a door at the far end. The captain turned to him and said, “Here’s a list of the door codes, memorise them and burn that paper at the end of the day. Try not to get lost down there. We’ve been known to have people go missing for days! Oh, and by the way, how do you make such good coffee?”

Ianto had taken a step down into the gloom but turned to face the other man for a moment and contemplated the best way to answer that question. Flirting with him was entirely too easy but Ianto was already starting to like the man and his easy charisma. He foresaw a great deal of amusing dialogue between them in his near future, so there was really only one answer to his question.

“Magic sir!”


End file.
